Story+1984-07-05+Cincinnati,+OH

´´Alright....yeah, this....this is a song....dedicated to the New Jersey Turnpike....you can sit down, we´re gonna be playing a long time.....this is....we worked up in New York City and every night....I end up driving home on the New Jersey Turnpike....and has anybody out there ever been on the Turnpike ? (cheers) has anybody out there ever been to New Jersey ? (cheers) that´s a lot....well, this is uh.....I´d be riding home about 3 a.m.....and one night I noticed that the New Jersey Turnpike, especially up north, looks just like the moon....you just see refinary towers everywhere with little lights, no trees, no nothing, it´s kind of like ´One giant step for mankind, two cheeseburgers to go´....so I´d be riding along....I´d be dreaming of getting home, making myself a peanutbutter-and-jelly sandwich....now, I was inspired....to write this next song.....Well, early north Jersey, industrial skyline, I´m an all-set cobra jet creeping through the nighttime, gotta find a gas-station, gotta find a payphone, this turnpike sure is, wait a minute, that ain´t how the song begins (chuckles) I´ll try it once more.....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, Ohio, intro to ´Open All Night´**

´´When I was a kid, my dad....used to always, uh....want me to be a doctor or a lawyer or something...you know, I could never....you know, it´s hard to convince your parents of.... what you wanna do (?)....my dad was really, he was really concerned....with, uh.... money ....´cause he didn´t have any, I guess....he used to take me....he used to always drive me outside of town and he´d show me this house that was on this big hill....he used to say ´See, if you´re a doctor, if you´re a lawyer....you can have a house like that, son´....now sometimes I dream that I´m....sometimes I´m the man outside the gate ....sometimes I´m the man inside.....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati,Ohio, intro to ‘Mansion on the hill’**

´´I got....I got a letter backstage tonight...it´s from, uh....Bev Neubaum, I know you´re out there somewhere....she says she´s in the cheap seats so she´s gotta be way back there somewhere....alright (?)....she says....she says ´I have been married for 17 years ....to a most fantastic and thoughtful man...this year he turns 40 and he could use a little boost emotionally...since he does so many special things for me, I would appreciate it if you could dedicate a song to him´...now...his name is Ed....Ed....I know you´re out there..... now, you´re gonna be 40....that´s not that bad....it´d better not be ´cause I´m almost 35.... that´s old, no, that´s not old....I guess there´s not much consolation I can give to you..... about getting old - Big Man, what´s, how old are you ? ....The Big Man is 40 !....42 !.... now, Ed, stop worrying about it....(?)...it´s as easy as this....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, Ohio, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´When I was a kid, about once every...two years, my dad...would go down to the used car lot and buy a car....and uh....it was the only time that me and my sister didn´t fight ....´cause we both wanted our Pop to get a convertible....we used to beg him ´Please, please, get the convertible´ (?)....and we´d always come home in a...Rambler, you know, hardtop...but we used to get him back....on Sundays he used to insist that we go out for a drive all the time.... me and my sister found the exact spot in the backseat where no matter what we did, he couldn´t reach us...he´d be....he´d used to, he used to curse trying to get us, we´d be back there laughing.....but then he´d say ´I´m gonna get the belt out when I get home´....and my, my sister used to always go first....she was tough....anyway ....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, Ohio, intro to ´Used Cars´**

´´Oh, this next song, this is a song....I remember when I grew up, I used to....I hated the town I grew up in for so long....and uh....it seems no matter where you go or what you do, the place you come from always, always stays with you and uh....this is a song, I guess it´s about responsobility....about what goes on in here, whether it´s happening overseas or whether it´s happening right where you live is done in your name and we all kind of bear the shame and the glory of it....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, Ohio, intro to ´My Hometown´**

´´Thanks.....this is uh....this is a song about feeling so lonely you could cry....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, Ohio, intro to ´Nebraska´**

´´Alright....there was some guy out back tonight with a....pink Cadillac....now, I was brought up Catholic....and they teach you that, you know, a long time ago there was Adam, there was Eve....she had the apple, he took the bite and here we are tonight..... yeah....sometimes I lay in bed and I start thinking about where I would rather be....would I rather be in the Garden of Eden or would I rather be on Earth.....I start thinking....(?) air-conditioning....Saturday night....I always pick Earth (chuckles) I don´t like being outside all the time, for one (chuckles)....I don´t know....they say there was no sin....but if there wasn´t any sin, what would everybody do on Saturday night ?....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, Ohio, intro to ´Pink Cadillac´**

´´Ladies and gentlemen....to the far left of the stage....Mr.E=MC2 and the only member of the band with a high school diploma, Professor Roy Bittan, let´s hear it for education..... and next we have.....from the streets of Asbury Park to you, Miss Patti Scialfa....on the drums, the man with the heat and the beat and the author of the soon-to-be-bestselling book The Big Beat, Mighty Max Weinberg....on the organ....the most mysterious member of our combo, Phantom Dan Federici....the man bringing you the thunder from down under, on the bass guitar, Mr.Garry W.Tallent....and on the guitar, drumroll please.... Mr.Nils Lofgren (Nils does his stunt on the trampoline)....now last but certainly not least ....take it down a little, boys....what can I say about the man ?....a close personal friend of mine....´C´ is for ´Cool´....his cool just grows and grows, ´L´ is for his (?) which comes and then goes, ´A´ is ´cause he´s the apple of my eye, ´R´ is ´cause though he´s the king of the world, he´s still just a regular kind of guy....´E´ is ´cause he´s everything that´s near and dear to me, ´N´ is ´cause there´s nothing like him and there´s never ever gonna be.... ´C is for that C-note he´s owed me since 1963.....´E´ is for everything else, you put that together, what´s that spell ?....what´s that spell ?....what´s that spell ?....the Big Man, Clarence Clemons on the saxophone.....´”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, Ohio, middle of ´Rosalita´**

´´This for Steve and Sue and Happy Birthday, Allison....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, OH, intro to ´Jungleland´**

´´Thanks, I´d like to thank all for coming down tonight, thank you very much.....and uh..... you guys are just pretty special, this is uh....I guess when I....when I grew up....rock and roll was saying mainly one thing to me and uh....I guess it was just saying ´Let freedom ring´....that´s what this is all about so.....but remember you gotta fight for it.....”
 * 05.07.84 Cincinnati, OH, intro to ´Born to Run´**